Saturday, August 23, 2008

I have made these before for TWD, but basically anything in Dorie's cookbook is game for a remake. They are moist with a delicate orange flavor and the fresh berries are great in there. These are a great way to start the day and my little girl just couldn't stay out of the picture!Orange Berry Muffins(Source: Dorie Greenspan “Baking: From My Home to Yours” p. 3)Ingredients:Grated zest and juice of 1 orangeAbout 3/4 cup buttermilk2 large eggs3 Tablespoons honey1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled1/3 cup sugar2 cups all-purpose flour2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder1/4 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt1 cup blueberries - fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)

Decorating sugar, for topping (optional)

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough - the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.Bake for 22 to 25 minutes.

If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing from the muffin tin.

She is too too cute. Can I please borrow her? When we get together for lunch, we better bring the kids and let them play like crazy. Tomorrow is stake conf. so instead of 9AM church, we get to go at 1. I think I'll celebrate by making these muffins. I'm dying to try them.

Good morning! I just polished off the first one. They are fab! I used half whole wheat, added wheat germ, and I had no orange so used lemon zest and bottled OJ. Also used blueberries and raspberries. I love them. Thanks for the inspiration.